Reps Query JAMB For Employing Over 300 Without Due Process

The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating employment racketeering by Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and mismanagement of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) has queried the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) for employing over 300 staff without due process.

The committee also picked holes into what it described as lopsided employment in the examination board.

Chairman of the ad hoc committee, Hon Yusuf Gagdi disclosed this at the ongoing investigation when the registrar of JAMB, Prof Ishaq Oloyede appeared before the panel at the National Assembly.

Gagdi consequently demanded that the agency immediately submit the list of all staff employed between 2015- 2023.

He expressed disappointment that JAMB had been violating the extant regulations of the public service by employing up to 300 staff from 2015 to date without advertising the vacancies adding in 2021 alone, the agency employed more than 300 staff at one recruitment exercise without adhering to the extant provisions of law.

Gagdi said JAMB had by its actions shortchanged many Nigerians citizens going by their employment records.

The lawmaker alleged that documents available to the ad hoc committee show that JAMB had been undertaking employment without due process of advertisement, shortlisting and interview of job seekers.

The chairman and other members of the committee submitted that the reliance of JAMB management on waivers for recruitment of staff without adhering to the provisions of the law on non-engagement of more than 100 staff annually was a violation of the public service rules.

“What makes you think advertising wouldn’t have been better? You have the capacity to screen the people that apply to get better hands to do those jobs. I’m asking this because we are most interested in correcting the fraud associated with waivers?”

In his response, the registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede explained that the board followed the federal character principles in the job recruitment exercise it conducted from 2015 till date.

He said JAMB had received approval for waivers from the relevant agencies to employ staff to replace those that had left, adding that the board had five sets of recruitment in the period under review.

According to him, JAMB sought a waiver to recruit over 300 people instead of advertising due to exigencies of duty, saying they had about twelve to thirteen centres coming on board and needed people to man them.

“We used the waiver because we believe the exigency of the time and the nature of our work deserves it. If we were to advertise for the three hundred, we wouldn’t be able to meet up with what we needed them for”.

He explained that the alleged lopsidedness in employment by the agency was due to the need to fill vacancies in the over 40 offices in different states of the federation adding  that most of the staff recruitment was done after due consultation with state governors.